Warsaw and Kyiv announced on Tuesday a decision involving Lithuania to speed up the transit of Ukrainian grain to other countries, the first agreement between the two countries since the Polish import embargo was announced last month.

“We have agreed on an important issue,” Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told the press after the tripartite online meeting, AFP and Agerpres reported.

“From tomorrow (Wednesday – n.d.) inspections (which were to be carried out – n.d.) on the Ukrainian-Polish border regarding grain transiting through Lithuania will be carried out on Lithuanian territory, in a Lithuanian port,” ​- he specified.

“Lithuania takes full responsibility for these inspections,” the Polish minister said.

Telus also assured that Poland will continue to create transit corridors “because it is good for Polish farmers, for Ukraine, for the European Union and for the whole world, because grain from Ukraine should be transported to regions that need it.” .

This is the first agreement between Poland and Ukraine since the beginning of the diplomatic crisis between the two countries, caused by the Polish embargo on the import of Ukrainian grain. Warsaw noted that it wants to protect its market and farmers from the collapse of prices for these products.

Transit of Ukrainian grain through Poland to other countries remained permitted.

As reported in the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture, Tuesday’s decision “will speed up transit through Poland.”

The ministry’s statement also clarified that Warsaw and Vilnius “support such a control mechanism and consider it a constructive step.”

How the embargo on the import of Ukrainian grain arose

After the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, which prevents access to the Black Sea, Ukraine’s neighboring countries have become important for the transit of Ukrainian grain to Africa and the Middle East.

Ukraine’s neighbors faced an influx of grain after the European Union raised tariffs in May 2022. Instead of reaching the intended destinations, the grain remained in Central Europe due to logistical problems, massive fraud and a lack of oversight.

After the glut of silos and the collapse of local prices in the spring, several interested countries announced a unilateral embargo.

Brussels has officially approved these restrictions, temporarily and on the condition that the passage of grain in other directions is preserved.

But the agreement expired in mid-September, and the European Commission decided not to extend it. Instead, Kyiv promised measures to better control its export flows.

Hungary, Poland and Slovakia responded by extending the embargo, prompting Ukraine to file a complaint with the WTO.

The embargo caused a crisis in relations between Kyiv and Warsaw. Negotiations have begun on the possibility of allowing the import of Ukrainian grain to Poland, but progress is slow.

In late September, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said neither Ukraine nor Poland “need this grain war,” saying tensions were fueled by the campaign ahead of Oct. 15 general elections in the neighboring country and its ally.

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